Stryker Corp. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Amplitude Vascular Systems Inc. (AVS) in a bid to strengthen its Peripheral Vascular portfolio, by adding a revascularization technology.
Abstracts released ahead of the American College of Cardiology meeting held in late March in New Orleans, along with the start of dosing near the end of January in Novartis AG’s phase IIb trial with siRNA therapy DII-235, also known as BW-20829, perked up the already-lively lipids/heart space.
There are new data to chew over in the ongoing controversy about obesity being diagnosed as a disease from a study tracking 157,159 participants in the UK Biobank over 13 years. This shows that even in the absence of any metabolic disturbance such as elevated lipids, high blood pressure or diabetes, there is an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, peripheral arterial disease, heart failure and liver disease in people with a body mass index over 30.
Endospan Ltd. Secured U.S. premarket approval for its Nexus aortic arch stent graft, bringing the company closer to being acquired by Artivion Inc. Under the terms of an existing agreement, Artivion has an option to acquire Endospan at any time within 90 days of the FDA approval.
Everest Medicines Ltd. has agreed to acquire a Singapore-based commercial unit of Hasten Biopharmaceuticals (Asia) Ltd. for $150 million up front, gaining market authorization holder rights to 14 marketed products originally developed by Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.
Syneron Bio is emerging as one of the most heavily backed new entrants in the macrocyclic peptide space, raising more than $250 million in venture funding and securing a multibillion-dollar deal with Astrazeneca plc as it builds a platform spanning several of the most competitive frontiers in drug development.
Johnson & Johnson launched its latest pulsed field ablation (PFA) catheter, Varipulse Pro, in Europe following CE mark approval, bringing another option to electrophysiologists looking to adopt PFA technology. The system features a new pulse sequence with a lower temperature profile and enables ablation that is five times faster than the previous sequence, while achieving equivalent lesions. It represents another significant development in the rapidly evolving PFA market that has transformed cardiac ablation treatment.
Wegovy (semaglutide) has passed the notoriously strict cost-effectiveness scrutiny of the U.K. health technology assessment body and will now be reimbursed for the prevention of further serious cardiovascular events in people who have had a heart attack or stroke, or are diagnosed with peripheral arterial disease.
With cases of peripheral artery disease (PAD) rising across the U.K., and lower limb amputations continuing to increase, med-tech companies joined forces with parliamentarians and health care professionals to push for urgent reform of the vascular sector.
Braveheart Bio Inc. reported positive results from an open-label randomized phase II dose-ranging study of BHB-1893 (HRS-1893) in obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Results presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session and Expo in New Orleans showed BHB-1893 treatment was associated with rapid and substantial reductions in left ventricular outflow tract gradient, the primary endpoint of the study.